Why Is the U.S. Proposing Protections for an Animal That Doesn’t Live Here?

Earlier this week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing seven species of pangolins—scaly, armadillo-like creatures found in Asia and Africa—as endangered. 

But why would a species that doesn’t live in the country need protections under America’s  Endangered Species Act? Pangolins are widely believed to be the most heavily trafficked mammal in the global wildlife trade, prized for their meat and scales. Though the struggling species already have some legal protections in the United States, an endangered listing would strengthen trade and import restrictions, and potentially unlock funding for conservation efforts abroad, environmental groups say. 

However, some experts are skeptical that the Endangered Species Act and U.S. influence alone have the power to meaningfully protect pangolins abroad, and stress the need to target what’s driving demand for the animals in the first place. 

Pangolin Protection: Despite being the only mammal with scales shielding their bodies from head to toe, pangolins are extremely vulnerable to a flurry of threats. Research shows the beach-ball-sized creatures are losing habitat due to deforestation and climate change. 

But the biggest risk to pangolins is illegal and unsustainable hunting and trafficking. When pangolins are scared, they stop and curl into a ball, making them easy targets when poachers find them. Asian countries are driving much of the demand for trade in pangolins because several traditional medicinal products are made using the scales, while communities in Africa typically target the species to consume as bushmeat.

There is no precise estimate for how many pangolins are left in the wild, but research suggests they are in dire straits. In 2016, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—an international wildlife trade agreement between countries, including the U.S.—enacted full protections for pangolins, meaning their commercial global trade is prohibited. The ESA already lists one species of pangolin as endangered, but the new proposal “reinforces that international trade ban,” said Danielle Kessler, the director of the nonprofit International Fund for Animal Welfare’s U.S. office.

“It draws a more distinct line in the sand,” she told me. She acknowledged that the U.S. is not a large contributor to the global pangolin trade, but stressed that endangered species listings for these animals would help ensure legal protections if that ever changes. 

The USFWS proposed separate listings for several African giraffe species in November to help slow population declines abroad. In a recent budget request brief, the agency said “it will continue to enforce wildlife laws, combat wildlife trafficking, and stop illicit trade in wildlife and wildlife products.” However, the budget would also reduce funding for the international affairs wing of the agency and other global conservation efforts. 

The pangolin listing proposal comes as the Trump administration moves to rescind widespread habitat protections for plants and animals listed under the Endangered Species Act, which my colleague Wyatt Myskow and I covered in April. 

Additionally, the Trump administration has made deep cuts to USAID programs, including those dedicated to combating wildlife trafficking, Mongabay reports. The State Department told NPR at the time that USAID cuts were meant “to ensure taxpayer dollars were used to make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous.”

A 60-day public comment period on the proposed pangolin rule started on Tuesday, one of the steps before a final decision is published. 

Real Progress? Since pangolins already have legal protections through other parts of U.S. law, wildlife trade expert Andrew Rhyne is skeptical of the impact a species listing could have. 

“International listings are complex because, to me, for a listing to be effective, you have to be able to get to the root cause of the reason it’s in danger,” Rhyne told me.

He’s a professor of marine biology at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. I spoke to him in February about a recent study he co-authored, which found that the United States is a massive player in the global wildlife trade, legally importing about 2.9 billion animals from nearly 30,000 species. 

“If we’re not able to increase support for countries that need the support to reduce trafficking and to help with conservation measures … then I’m not sure what [the listing] does,” he said. Pangolins are “not in our backyard, so it’s really easy for that U.S. finger to [point and say] ‘Gosh, we should really do something about this over there.’” 

I asked USFWS if the species listings would unlock any funding to support international pangolin conservation. 

“Section 8 of the Endangered Species Act authorizes the United States, at the discretion of the President, to provide financial assistance to foreign countries to support the conservation of endangered or threatened species, including those not native to the United States,” a spokesperson said over email. “This assistance may be used to help develop and manage conservation programs for species such as pangolins, if they are listed.”

Another concern is the time and resources that go toward getting a species listed in the first place, particularly because conservation funding is incredibly limited in the U.S. and around the world, as I pointed out in a recent newsletter. Advocates from conservation groups like IFAW spent around a decade pushing for pangolins to be protected under the ESA. 

Meanwhile, petitions to give endangered-species protections to animals and plants found in the U.S. can also languish for years, largely because their listing could have broad consequences for domestic industries. Scientists who recently identified a darter fish found only in the area of Birmingham, Alabama, worry that it might go extinct before it could hope to be listed.

Pangolins’ home countries in Africa and Asia have taken some modest steps in recent years to protect the animals. For example, China recently removed pangolin scales and formulas that use them from its list of approved traditional and Western drugs, but did not fully ban their use, Mongabay reports. 

However, pangolin trade remains high—and anti-trafficking measures are just one piece of the puzzle for protecting them, according to Charles Emogor, a zoologist at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge in England. The decline in Asian pangolin populations has triggered a surge in trafficking from Africa, but a new study co-authored by Emogor suggests that African pangolin exploitation is driven more by local demand for meat. 

The researchers sent anonymous surveys to more than 800 wild meat hunters and vendors in Nigeria and found that almost all of them caught pangolins for their meat. Most of the pangolin scales were discarded, rather than sold in the illegal wildlife trade. 

“In light of recent USAID funding cuts for conservation efforts in Asia and Africa, additional resources are urgently needed to sustain existing initiatives,” Emogor told me. “However, funding alone is not enough—we must also partner with local organizations to enhance community well-being, particularly around food security.” 

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